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Scott's Reference Library
Genesis 1:1 through Genesis 1:5 (NIV)
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was
formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of
God was hovering over the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the
light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the
light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and
there was morning—the first day.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 1-2
The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the
origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands
this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven
and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place
as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye,
and the earth under our feet. The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him
when he made the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him,
and nothing was made without him. Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our
minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose
name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that
Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other
parts of the Bible. Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be
seen, for the world was without form, and void; it was confusion, and emptiness.
In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a
graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and
every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it
is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a
change in us.
VERSES 3-5
God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the
power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is
wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and
affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by
grace become light in the Lord. Darkness would have been always upon fallen man,
if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding, 1 John 5:20. The
light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness;
for what fellowship has light with darkness? In heaven there is perfect light,
and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day
and the night are the Lord’s; let us use both to his honour, by working for him
every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and
night.